


catnip

by 3311



Series: One shots - DBH rarepairs week [5]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, Warrior Cats AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-15
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-10-19 07:48:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20653700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/3311/pseuds/3311
Summary: Warrior Cats AU (that means they… are… cats… normal cats… think lady and the tramp, NOT the abomination that is cats the movie (2019)For the free day of dbh rarepairs week over tumblr





	catnip

The canaries in the cage sang apprehensively, feeling the intense stare of the cat sitting just below their cage. ‘Today, I’ll finally get one’, the fluffy cat thought, Leo didn’t plan on hurting it… much… he only wanted to play with it a little, why! Carl had so many interesting things and yet Leo couldn’t play with any of them. Carl was always chasing him down of counters, scolding him for pushing pretty things off shelves, or playing with the brushes or the tubes of paint, but they ran so, it was so exciting to chase them.

Leo huffed as he got on the table next to the canaries’ cage, the little bell and tag on his collar making the tinkling sound Leo detested, he couldn’t ambush any of the birds, or squirrels, or lizards, or the rare mouse he sometimes saw in the garden because that thing always gave him away, no matter how silent he tried to be.

His ears moved back and forth trying to hear where Carl was, where Markus was. He didn’t get why Carl was so fond of Markus, honestly dogs weren’t even that interesting, they were big, slobbering, stinky things and Markus was a rescue to boot. Leo was a purebred ragdoll, his coat was fluffy white with milktea brown bits; at least when he tried his best not to roll around the dirt and mud in the garden, there had been a catnip plant there until recently, when Carl noticed he’d told the gardener to get rid of it, another thing Leo could not have.

Leo couldn’t have the catnip, couldn’t play with the pretty things on the shelves, or the paint or the brushes, couldn’t climb on the curtains or sharpen his claws on the carpets or canvasses, and those were so nice to scratch, couldn’t sleep on the piano either, or on the tv, or the comfy, warm machines near Carl’s bed, or the heating vents. Markus got at least one walk every day, Carl took him places, took him to the dog park and things, what did Leo get? It wasn’t like he was going to walk on a leash, Carl tried to put him on a leash once and Leo had laid down and not moved in protest, until he was released from it; those things were uncomfortable and humiliating, only stupid dogs would wear them.

The bars of the cage were too close together to slip his paw through, but maybe if he pushed the cage off the table it would crack like an egg, the birdies would fly out, and he’d be able to catch one, his pupils dilated with anticipation. He gave a little push first, the cage didn’t budge, it was a bit heavier than he’d thought, he pushed again, and again, and again, until it crashed on the floor with a loud metallic sound that made him jump, he ran and hid under the couch not even waiting to see if the cage had opened.

The next thing he heard was barking, Markus of course making a fuss, and Carl’s voice

“Don’t worry, Markus” Carl was saying “They are alright, see? Only a little bit ruffled”

Leo dared go out from under the couch, and peeked his head cautiously through the door; Carl saw him and sighed,

“What are we going to do with you?” He said sternly, “Don’t bother the birds, they are a pet just like you are” then he petted Markus’s head fondly “Time for a walk?” he said and Markus barked, they went out, not even glancing back at him.

The front door closed and Leo considered going back and try to get the birds again, but what was the point? He couldn’t crack the cage open, he couldn’t get his paw in. Instead he went out through the doggy door that had just been installed in the kitchen. Leo hadn’t had a door to the garden, he always had to wait until Kara had time in the morning to open the big door for him, but Markus needed one, of course.

Leo looked around the garden feeling the autumn wind in his whiskers, pawed at a dry leaf half heartedly, he was in too much of a bad mood to do anything, even nap and he did love napping.

“What’s the matter, kittypet?” a voice said “Did your favourite plastic toy break? Are you constipated because of your canned food?”

Leo looked around the garden trying to find the source of the voice.

“Are you… a ghost?” Leo asked when he didn’t manage to see, or hear, or smell anyone, his ears perking up. Kara liked to leave the tv on while doing her chores and the last time Leo had seen a ghost show, one lady said she’d kept feeling her beloved cat after he passed away, jumping on her bed at night just like he used to. Leo had kept on thinking about it, that lady really let her cat sleep on her bed? Leo wished he was that lucky.

“A fucking gho –?” the voice said “Are all kittypets this stupid or what?”

“I’m not stupid!” Leo said firmly “And I’m not a kittypet!” he added because by the way the voice said the word it sounded like being one of those must be a really bad thing to be, almost, but not quite, as bad as being a dog.

Gavin watched the kittypet as he hid comfortably in the bushes, he usually hid in the thick foliage of the trees but it was late autumn and the few dry leaves that were left in the tree wouldn’t do much to hide him. The kittypet sniffed the air trying to detect him, but of course he couldn’t, little pets were so atrophied Gavin didn’t get how they didn’t just drop dead. The tabby lay lazily on the grass (it didn’t have anything to do with his hurt paw, not at all!) and laughed when the kittypet tried to deny those two very obvious facts about himself.

“You live in the big house, don’t you? Humans feed you that gross mushy stuff, or the dry, cardboard pellets, don’t they?” Gavin said derisively

“Yeah…”

“And they make you play with stupid toys”

“HA!” Leo exclaimed triumphantly “Nobody makes me play with anything!”

This Gavin wasn’t expecting “Don’t you have stupid fake birds and stinky fabric mice”

“Nope!” Leo said proudly

“What do you do the whole fucking day then?”

“I try to sneak into the studio!”

“What?” Gavin said “Whatever the fuck for? Do the humans keep food there?”

“No, Carl is there, almost every day… all day…” The kittypet said “with Markus, he’s a dog, a rescue” he added with the same tone in which Gavin had said ‘kittypet’

“Hmm” Gavin said “What do you do if you get in?”

“I play with the brushes!” Leo exclaimed animatedly, deflating almost instantly “but I shouldn’t, or I play with the paint tubes, but I also shouldn’t. Why do you ‘spose Markus can? Markus bites the brushes or paints and takes them to Carl, and Carl pets him and tells him he’s a good boy, but if I touch them he asks Kara to take me out”

“Humans and dogs are equally stupid,” Gavin said arrogantly “They are not like us”

“Us?” the kittypet said hopefully

“Well, you are a cat; that makes you better than any of those pricks” Gavin said as he crouched, ready for attack “even if you are a kittypet!” he pounced from the bushes right to the fluffy long tail of the other cat, making Leo jump in surprise.

“Not fair!” Leo complained once his paws were back in the ground “I wasn’t ready!”

“You’d never be ready!”

Leo chased after the brown tabby, he was much faster than Leo was and the color of his coat made him blend among the dry leaves, Leo would lose him for a second and then the tabby would spring from a bush, or a pile of leaves, or even jump at him from the trees. Leo managed to catch him only once, more by knowledge of the garden than speed or ability.

They played for a long time until they heard a few noises from the kitchen, Kara coming back from grocery shopping

“Leo!” Kara shouted accompanied by the sound of a baggy of treats being shaken

Leo’s ears perked up but he hesitated

The tabby scoffed jumping easily on top of the garden wall “Go get your treats, kittypet”

“My name’s Leo, not kittypet!” Leo said bristling slightly “You could come, Kara would give you some too, she’s nice!”

“Nah, pass”

“Will you come again?” Leo said feeling slightly embarrassed, but the tabby had already disappeared from the wall.

Leo’s favourite place to be at night (besides running all around the first floor) was the window seat in the guestroom, it overlooked the garden and Kara would usually leave the small reading light on, so moths would fly to the window, and Leo would have so much fun trying to catch their shadows, and so far nobody had told him he couldn’t do that.

That’s where Gavin had seen him for the first time; One night he’d jumped onto the garden wall, and saw the fluffy cat go tap, tap, tap on the window as if trying to catch the moth that was clearly outside. Gavin scoffed to himself, ignoring the cold night wind going through his fur, all kittypets were really such dumbasses but this one was something else.

He found himself visiting that garden often, telling himself it was only because it was a big garden with a wall and no dogs outside, a good place to nap without keeping one eye open (although he never napped when he was there). It definitely wasn’t that that particular dumbass was amusing to watch, and he was a fucking dumbass. Some nights Gavin would watch him through the windows of the first floor, see him running in the living room, after nothing, racing no one up and down the stairs; the fluffy cat was none the wiser about him being there.

He’d been actually resting (a fucking dog had almost managed to get one of his back legs) when the kittypet had come outside, pawing at that dry leaf as if all the weight of the world were over him, the silly idiot. When Gavin walked away from the big house that day he hadn’t planned to come back, but somehow he found himself waiting for the crusty man and the silly dog to go away in the evenings, to keep on beating Leo on their games of tag.

A few weeks later Gavin found himself near the house again, this time at night, his visits had become less frequent because of the snow, he fucking hated winter. When Gavin looked up Leo was, just as he’d expected, trying to catch the moths he couldn’t even touch. Gavin jumped from the wall to the tree, to another tree, to the roof of the big house, he hissed as menacingly as he could at the window, making Leo fall off the window seat.

“You scared me, you…. Ass!” Leo said as he saw the tabby laugh a noiseless laugh that showed his sharp fangs but didn’t go through the glass of the window ‘I’ll show him’ Leo thought, rushing down the stairs as fast as he could, going through the doggy door, the new snow feeling a bit uncomfortable on his paws that really liked plush carpets way better, he started to climb the tree, he was trying to climb the tree…

“What do you think you are doing?” The tabby laughed

“Trying to get to you” Leo said, “… kick… your… ass….” his claws were firmly stuck on the bark of the tree, the branch… wasn’t… that… far…

“There!” Leo puffed proudly when he reached it, now he only had to jump to the roof

The tabby scoffed and jumped down easily to the snow below while Leo was up in the flimsy tree branch

“That’s cheating!” Leo shouted

“How is being faster than you cheating?”

“You aren’t faster– “ Leo faltered when the branch moved, now he was up here he didn’t know how to get down

“Are you fucking stuck?” the tabby laughed

“No…”

“Jump down then?”

“I’ll jump down when I want to”

“Come on, dumbass” The tabby climbed up to the branch in a flash,

“I’m Leo! Not dumbass!” Leo said obstinately “And you are going to break the branch, asshole!”

“If that’s what gets you the fuck down” the tabby said “And I’m not ‘asshole’ it’s Gavin you, dumbass”

Not even Gavin calculated the flimsiness of the thin branch, or maybe it was that he wasn’t used to think beyond his own speed and abilities, his own weight, he didn’t take into account it was both of them, as soon as he put both of his paws on it the branch snapped, but cats always fall on their feet, and there was plenty of snow to break their fall.

“See, you almost killed us, asshole!” Leo said scrambling up from the cold snow, shaking himself to get it off his fur before it melted

“Whatever, dumbass!” Gavin said doing the same, and jumping up the wall again

“Where are you going?” Leo asked, trying not to sound as disappointed as he was, he’d missed the other cat

“Anywhere I fucking want to”

“Can I come?”

“Can you keep up?”

“Of course I fucking can” Leo said climbing the wall with obvious difficulty

“Don’t get lost, kittypet!” Gavin shouted running away, jumping from wall to wall and through the snowy gardens of the big estates near Carl’s house

“Wait, wait!” Leo shouted “I saw something!”

Leo came to a beautiful koi pond in one of the neighbor’s gardens, there were pretty orange fish swimming in it, real fish, not like the fake ones Carl sometimes turned on in the living room. Leo swatted at one but couldn’t catch it, he touched the surface of the water gingerly and discovered it was solid as if it were glass; he stepped on it and then ran excitedly after the fish, skidding this way and that, leaving little scratch marks on the ice.

“Are you serious?” Gavin said sitting on one of the rocks that surrounded the garden pond “the water is frozen, dumbass, you’ll never catch them”

“So?” Leo said nonchalantly, still chasing and pouncing on the fish “It’s fun to run after them –”

All of a sudden Leo heard a funny noise, a sneezing noise, but it couldn’t possibly be coming from Gavin. Leo looked up from his fish; Gavin sneezed again. Leo wasn’t that bothered by the cold, his coat was very thick and it was enough to keep him warm, but the tabby’s coat was very short, and looking attentively now Leo noticed several patches where there wasn’t fur at all, and instead there were angry scars.

“You are cold!” Leo said, it wasn’t a question; it was a surprised statement, so far Leo had believed Gavin was impervious to everything.

“I’m fucking not!” Gavin said, but now that Leo had noticed, it was completely obvious

“You are!” Leo insisted jumping out of the frozen pond, “Let’s go, I know exactly where we can go to fix it”

“I’m not –“ Gavin made a funny face “ – tskkt! TSKKTT!!”

Leo tried very hard not to laugh… and failed

“Your sneeze is so fucking funny!” he laughed rolling in the snow, Gavin glared at him but it wasn’t that effective, just looking at the fluffy cat get covered in all that powdery, cold crap made him shiver

“Let’s go dumdum!” Leo swatted at Gavin’s tail, “Race you!” Leo dashed away

Gavin, not one to be bested at anything, ran after him… slowly… because supposedly Leo was leading the way (and Gavin’s legs felt uncomfortably numb in the cold, he hated winter, all his old wounds hurt in the absurd snowy weather)

Leo ran all the way to his big house, he entered it by the doggy door, Gavin hesitated outside of it. He had had very bad experiences, houses, rooms, those weren’t easy to escape from…

“Come on!” Leo’s head peeked out from the doggy door “Or are you… afraid?” Leo’s eyes widened with the question

Gavin scoffed “Of what? Your fucking butler?”

“Why would you be afraid of butter?” Leo said as Gavin went through the doggy door, “You know! One time I managed to lick some off Carl’s toast, and it was so freaking nasty!” Leo said making a face “Do you think it tastes different to humans and stuff? Or they just like to eat nasty stuff?”

Gavin glared at Leo… a dumbass alright, so maybe it would be fine, he’d remember where the exit was; if the kittypet could live here there probably weren’t big menaces hiding behind every corner.

Leo led the way upstairs, Gavin followed cautiously, at one moment there was the noise of a door opening and closing and Gavin hunched down, alert, ready to go back or attack, he was no coward, but he was no fool either.

Leo didn’t laugh at that “That’s only Kara checking on Carl,” he explained “she does a few times at night”

Gavin shook himself without a word, and kept following after Leo. They entered the guest room

“Here!” Leo trotted happily towards the heating vent

Gavin sniffed at it tentatively, still feeling wary but the warm air felt really nice in his paws

“Neat, right?!” Leo said curling up near it

“Maybe if you are a kittypet” Gavin said derisively rolling his eyes, but he loafed up near the vent all the same, his aching muscles relaxing thanks to the heat. After a while Leo scooted a bit closer, the fluffy cat was very warm, and very very soft; Gavin leant into him almost without meaning too, lulled by the cozy warmth and the calm atmosphere of the house in the night; soon enough he was sleeping, purring inadvertently against the other cat, maybe winter was not all bad after all.

* * *

Notes: Also on the [blue hell ](https://getoutofthewater.tumblr.com/post/187728522633/dbhrarepairs-sunday-day-7-free-day-gavinleo)=w=


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